02 February 2010

The Trouble with Tebow

The Super Bowl is a time for cheesy, silly often stupid commercials interrupted by generally a marginal football game. Don't get me wrong - anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a huge football fan. Usually the Super Bowl is a let down - that's just the way it works out.

Unfortunately, it seems the conservative evangelical group Focus on the Family feels the need to interrupt a mindless day of sports and junk food consumption with an ad about Tim Tebow and his family.


Here's the story in a nutshell - Tim Tebow's family were missionaries in the Philippines, Mrs. Tebow got very ill and even slipped into a coma. The medications that were administered caused pregnancy complications and could have caused fetal defects. According to Mrs. Tebow - she was told that an abortion might be the best way to proceed. Because of her faith, abortion was not an option for her - she "chose" life. That's where it gets sticky - the truth is abortion is, was and has been illegal for a VERY long time in the Philippines, just suggesting one put the doctor at risk. He could have been imprisoned for actually administering a therapeutic abortion. Whether or not the details of the Tebow story are made to seem more "pro-life" than they really are - is up for the reader to decide.

My "right to life" supersedes anything that might reside in my body, until I DECIDE IT DOESN'T. If I decide to risk my life to continue a pregnancy that is my decision - however, to make that decision in an environment where abortion is illegal or within a religious community that condemns abortion as evil - really makes it a false choice. The truth is from Mrs. Tebow's mindset - she had no true choice at all.

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